receding gums - The Hale Clinic

Experts CLINIC
What to do about…
RECEDING
GUMS
Nothing spoils a smile like
receding gums. The good news?
It’s easy to keep yours healthy
EARLY WARNING
The first sign of gum disease,
particularly in younger people, is
gingivitis. ‘Gums become inflamed
and bleed on brushing,’ explains
Dr Carter. Left untreated, toxins
from hardened plaque (tartar) eat
into the bony support of the tooth,
exposing more of the affected teeth
and creating pockets of trouble.
‘Bacteria in these pockets survive
without oxygen,’ explains Roelofs.
‘Brushing alone doesn’t remove
them.’ If it isn’t tackled, the result
is periodontitis (advanced gum
disease). ‘If gums have receded a
lot,’ says Roelofs, ‘it’s hard to get
them back over the teeth without
major surgery.’ But luckily, gum
disease can be addressed via our
daily oral hygiene regime.
THE HEALTHY
MOUTH KIT
Twice-daily brushing is essential,
and electric toothbrushes are far
132 healthy-magazine.co.uk
DR NIGEL
CARTER OBE is
head of the British
Dental Health
Foundation
(dentalhealth.
org).
SUZANNE
ROELOFS
specialises in
holistic gum
treatments at
The Hale Clinic,
London, and
trained in
nutritional therapy
at the College
of Naturopathic
Medicine
(naturopathy
-uk.com).
more effective than manual ones.
For a really clean mouth, you need
to use interdental brushes and/or
floss to dislodge food particles that
can then be rinsed away. There are
even electric interdental brushes
that push bursts of water between
the teeth, though Roelofs believes
they still leave behind some plaque
– the old-school variety work more
effectively. But for any result, you
must use them. ‘Only five per cent
of people use floss,’ says Dr Carter.
‘Maybe because it can be fiddly to
use. But an ideal regime would be
this: in addition to brushing teeth
twice daily, use floss or interdental
brushes at least once a day, last
thing at night, preferably, to get rid
of that day’s plaque build-up.’
If the problem is bad, there are
various non-surgical techniques
for root planing (deep scaling
below the gum margin). Roelofs
Use floss daily to
help get your smile
looking this good
DID YOU
KNOW?
Apart from
causing
receding gums,
gum disease
has also been
linked to heart
disease, stroke,
premature
labour and
diabetes.
uses a four-point system to combat
damage. ‘I do a bacterial DNA test
to check which and how many
bacteria we’re dealing with, then
I stretch the gums and clean as
deep as I can to remove bacteria
and toxins; there’s no surgery. This
introduces oxygen which helps kill
anaerobic bacteria,’ she explains.
But to avoid getting to this stage,
it’s vital to look after your teeth
and gums properly – and that
means a good oral hygiene regime
and regular dental check-ups.
Give oil pulling a go
With its ayurvedic origins, claims for
oil pulling include better gums and
whiter teeth, but also helping ease other
problems such as arthritis. To ‘pull’, put a
tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth
and swish it around the mouth and teeth
for up to 20 minutes. Then discard the oil
and rinse your mouth with water.
COMPILED BY JEAN ELGIE. PHOTOGRAPHS SHUTTERSTOCK
Y
ou’ve likely heard the
expression, ‘I’m too
long in the tooth’ when
someone refers to
themselves as being older, but it’s
a fallacy that receding gums are
a part of ageing, says Dr Nigel
Carter. ‘The real cause is untreated
gum disease, and affects up to
60 per cent of people,’ he says.
Vigorous brushing with a hard
brush is also to blame, explains
holistic practitioner Suzanne
Roelofs. ‘Teeth grinding, stress,
piercings rubbing against the gum,
smoking and a poor, sugar-laden
diet can contribute, too,’ she says.